Well, it turns out I'm a total slacker in updating this blog, just as I am a slacker in all the other areas of my life. What happened to me?! I used to be so motivated and on top of things. Being here in the Pac Northwest has just sucked all the life right out of me! OK, it's not really that bad, but there is a definite link between lack of sunlight (i.e. RAIN) and depression.
Why is there no air conditioning here in WA? Coming from SC, I just can't deal. It was 98 degrees today and there is NO AC, anywhere! It's 82 degrees right now in my house. My office building is a very old converted house, and my office is upstairs. My window has no shade, and to make it worse, the furnace - only in my office - is faulty and runs constantly. My office was at least 90 degrees today. I had three fans going, and it didn't even make an impact. The good news is that it didn't get hot this summer until July (it usually starts to heat up in May) and it is supposed to start cooling down again in a few days. Where is that rain I always complain about?!
Jason and I have orders - not the orders we wanted - but we do have orders. We're supposed to report to IMF in Hawaii in March of 2008. This is good and bad news. The good news is that we will definately be leaving the Nebraska in 7 months (Go Big Red - literally!), and of course, it is HAWAII! The bad news is that there are lots of costs associated with living in Hawaii that we wouldn't experience living stateside. We have to ship one of our cars (the Navy only ships one), pay for hotel costs until we get housing (up to 2 months), pay for food because we don't have a kitchen, pay for a kennel for the dogs because the hotels don't allow pets, etc. We also have to start the quarentine process for George and JC ASAP. We have to update their shots, get a rabies certificate, send off blood work, and then wait 120 days to enter Hawaii. Then they have to stay in quarentine for 5 days, which is $225 per dog, before we can be allowed to take them home (or to a kennel, most likely). It's all a very big stress, and I wish I was going to Charleston so we didn't have to deal with it.
There is still the possibility that we could get orders to Charleston. Jason has sent off his packet to be approved for prototype, and he was given the Hawaii orders before his packet was processed. If he's approved and there is a place for him, we should be able to get new orders. I've got my fingers crossed... I really want to be back in SC with my family, and I know Jason would like to be closer to his as well.
Other than that, we're just here, trying to beat the heat. Please check in and let us know how you are doing!
